Frank Slide - Legacy

Legacy

Curious sightseers flocked to the site of the slide within days of the disaster. It has remained a popular tourist destination, in part due to its proximity to the Crowsnest Highway. The province built a roadside turnout in 1941 to accommodate the traffic. Town boosters unsuccessfully sought to have the site designated as a National Historic Site in 1958. It was later designated a Provincial Historic Site of Alberta. The provincial government designated the slide area a restricted development zone in 1976, which prevents alteration of the site. The Frank Slide Interpretive Centre, within sight of the mountain, was opened in 1985. A museum and tourist stop document the Frank Slide and the region's coal mining history. The site receives over 100,000 tourist visits annually.

Though Frank recovered from the slide and achieved a peak population of 1,000 shortly thereafter, the closure of the mine resulted in a longstanding decline in population. Frank ceased to be an independent community in 1979 when it was amalgamated into the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass along with the neighbouring communities of Blairmore, Coleman, Hillcrest and Bellevue. Frank is now home to about 200 residents, and about a dozen homes are within the predicted path of the next slide.